Do you remember the friend you had as a kid, the one you spent all your spare time with? The one whose parents made you feel like just another kid in the family and yours did the same? The one you giggled all night long with when you were supposed to be sleeping, and got hurt with while sledding or rollerblading? Mine was a girl named Heather, and her family moved to the US when we were around 8 or 9 years old. It's hard to believe now but before the internet (gasp!) you simply said goodbye. Phone calls slowed to a stop and lives moved on. You sometimes wondered what ever happened to that friend, and then... Facebook came into our lives. Heather and I reconnected there a couple years ago and I learned she and her whole family were back in Canada. We exchanged some chat about our rescue dogs, what we were up to these days, where life had taken us. Then she got engaged. I sent her a congrats and secretly thought to myself "wouldn't it be so amazing, to shoot her wedding and see each other again after all these years." I think she read my mind. Within a few weeks of her engagement, we had plans for me to travel back to Ontario, to photograph her wedding.
As I boarded my plane in September, I couldn't quite put my finger on my emotions. Excitement. Honour. Some nerves. Returning to Ontario for ANY wedding I shoot is special. But knowing I would be seeing Heather and her family had me more amped up than usual. On the Friday evening, I drove to the lovely town of Paris, Ontario, where the wedding was to be held in her parent's backyard backing onto the Grand River. I rang the doorbell and her older sister Alyson answered it - right away I was face to face with her husband and kids, little sister Jenny (all grown up and married herself!) and parents Gary and Mary-Ellen. Surreal. Just surreal. Five minutes later Heather walked in, and hugging her, seeing her for the first time in something like 24 years... I can't even describe that moment. But I'll never forget it.
And the wedding. Perfect backyard chic, laid-back casual, country charm. The ceremony took place under a gazebo built just for the occasion, steps from the river, under sunny blue skies. Mary-Ellen's homemade strawberry jam was given as favours, and pie served for dessert. We feasted on BBQ from local BBQ masters Strodes... I sat with a group visiting from North Carolina and they decided my life is definitely incomplete, since I had yet to taste a hush puppy. Guests mingling under a canopy of lanterns, and cozy-ing up beside a number of backyard fire pits. Dancing the night away to a local band playing oldies and classic rock. Beer flowing from a bar custom built by the groom and outfitted with craft brew - into everyone's drinking jars we got to keep. Meeting friends who traveled from all over the US and even Australia to spend the day celebrating with them, and realizing that even though the years have passed and life has taken us in different directions, true friendship stays alive and well.
Heather & Justin, I can't thank you enough for placing your memories into my hands and giving me the opportunity to spend such an amazing day with you!! Much, much love. Let's not let another 24 years pass before we hang out again.